Tempo

What tempo fixes

Tempo is the speed of the basic pulse, that is, of the beats you feel when you clap along. 60 bpm means one beat per second, 120 bpm twice as fast. The number fixes how briskly the music moves, quite independently of which note values are being played.

Do not confuse tempo with note density: a slow piece can contain many fast notes and a fast piece long ones. Tempo concerns only the pulse in the background, not the number of notes in the foreground.

Tempo terms

Traditionally tempi are given with Italian terms, which often express not only the speed but also a character. The words are elastic and leave room for the performer. “Andante” describes an attitude of calm walking rather than an exact value. That is why modern notation often adds a bpm figure.

The values are guidelines. The pages Rhythm and Building block: tempo go into more detail. In between lie further terms such as Moderato and Vivace.

Tempo changes

Music rarely stays strictly at one speed. Gradually getting faster is called accelerando, gradually getting slower ritardando. Many pieces end with a ritardando that prepares the close. “A tempo” cancels such a deviation and leads back to the basic tempo.

Tempo markings in sheet music

In the guitar pieces of the sheet music archive you find tempo markings directly above the first bar. The following pieces show what they look like.

Guitar

• Etüde Nr. 7 Matteo Carcassi, op. 60 No. 7 · guitar · 2 pages

  “Allegro” is written above the first bar. In bar 9 the instruction “a tempo” follows, which leads back to the basic tempo.

• Etüde Nr. 13 Matteo Carcassi, op. 60 No. 13 · guitar

  The heading in the score reads “Andante grazioso”: walking and graceful. The word after the tempo describes the character.

• Etüde Nr. 6 Matteo Carcassi, op. 60 No. 6 · guitar

  “Moderato” is written above the beginning, a moderate tempo in 4/4.

• Gitarrenschule, Stück Nr. 11 Ferdinando Carulli · guitar

  Here, instead of a tempo word, the score says “Tempo di Valse”, that is, in the tempo of a waltz, in 3/8. Later “a tempo” appears, leading back to the basic tempo.

Common mistakes

• Confusing tempo with note density: Many small note values do not automatically mean a fast tempo.
• Starting too fast: Tempo is the reward for accuracy. First slow and clean, then faster step by step.
• Reading tempo words as exact numbers: Allegro and Andante are ranges, not single values.